Gerald Ford Memorial (Michigan's Favorite Graduate)

Ford played center at the University of Michigan as a three-year letter winner from 1932-34. The Wolverines enjoyed undefeated consecutive, national championship seasons in 1932 and 1933 with Ford dominating the line. In 1934, Michigan named Ford its most valuable player, and he earned a spot in the East-West Shrine Game, which showcased the season’s All-Stars. He also did some coaching. From 1935 through 1940, Ford served as an assistant coach at Yale under Raymond "Ducky" Pond. On the same staff was Hall of Famer Greasy Neale. Among the players on those Yale teams were back-to-back Heisman Trophy winners (Clint Frank and Larry Kelley). In 1938 the higher-ups at Yale Law School relented on their earlier decision not to allow him to combine his coaching duties and law studies, and by June of 1941 he had his law degree. And then, as quoted by John McCallum in "Ivy League Football," "World War II ended my football career." Gerald Ford passed away on December 26, 2006.

NCAA Football by FanDome | February 27, 2009

Tags:. .mccallum. .famer. .heisman. .greasy. .undefeated